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Essay / The injustices exposed in Cry the Beloved... by Alan Paton
Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, is the story of two fictional characters, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis, who lose their sons in Africa of the South in 1948. In his history, Alan Paton used George Hegel's dialect of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, to denounce the social injustices in the microcosm of South Africa which correspond to the macrocosm problems facing the entire country and what needs to be done about them. these injustices. Paton subdivided his story into three books. The first of these books, depicting Stephen Kumalo's journey to try to restore his family, is a cry against injustice. The second book mainly focuses on James Jarvis's plight to understand his deceased son and depicts his desire for justice. While the final book presents the restoration and reparation of injustices derived from the desire for justice. The society of the small urban town called Ndotsheni, where Stephan and the author come from, is largely based on the African tribal system. This city is also suffering from a drought which is driving young men away to work in the mines of Johannesburg. Johannesburg directly contradicts Ndotsheni with the absence of a tribal system and the collapse of the moral fibers of its people. Yet in Johannesburg there is also hope for the future and ideas that will contribute to the restoration of Ndotsheni. As the story unfolds in Johannesburg, the reader is introduced to two exceptionally different characters. The first is John Kumalo, the brother of Stephen Kumalo. He is a corrupt politician with the voice of a “lion”, but a little harsh, who spoke about the injustices of whites towards blacks and their need to revolt. The other is an enlightened priest, Msimangu, who prayed for love and restoration through reparation. Their influences help make Kumalo a new person. Furthermore, throughout his story, Paton emphasizes the idea of irresponsibility contradicted by individual responsibility. Ultimately, the idea of unified responsibility proves to be the only means by which South Africa can be saved. The party society in place when Paton wrote Cry the Beloved Country was one of extreme racial inequality and injustice. Paton wrote the first book of his story to protest this injustice. This book begins with the description of Ndotsheni and the lands surrounding it..